WISPR Systems earned Green UAS certification from a trade association in February. Ten weeks later, on 28 April, its SkyScout 2+ was on the Pentagon’s Blue UAS Cleared List — the roster that decides which drones US federal agencies are allowed to buy.
That sequence is now the fastest way on. Since July 2025, platforms holding Green UAS certification gain automatic eligibility for Blue UAS Cleared status without a separate full government assessment. Green UAS is run by the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International, an industry body. The Defense Innovation Unit recognised the route as authorised, effective immediately, and the list has since passed to the Defense Contract Management Agency.
Four platforms joined in 2026, each announced by the manufacturer rather than the government. Ondas’ American Robotics Optimus went on in January. Vector announced Blue and Green certification together for its Longbow, a modular VTOL already flying under a multi-year contract with US Special Operations Command. WISPR followed in April. Then on 23 July Skydio announced the rest of its lineup — the X10, the R10 indoor platform and the Dock for X10, joining the X10D. The DCMA list read on 8 October carries the X10 and the R10 but not the Dock.
Being listed is worth more than it was a year ago. In December the FCC added foreign-made drones and components broadly to its Covered List, blocking new equipment authorisations, and American Security Drone Act enforcement extended procurement restrictions to every federal agency, contractor and grant recipient. Then came tariffs: under the Section 232 proclamation that took effect on 3 September, platforms on the Blue UAS list as of 2 September got a 180-day delay on duties of 25% and 100%. Being on the list on a particular Wednesday was worth six months of pricing advantage.
The figure quoted everywhere — more than 50 platforms from over 30 manufacturers — does not trace to any published Defense Department source. The last count DIU published was 39 certified systems and 165 components, in November 2025. Since the handover, DIU’s page points at bluelist.dcma.mil, which redirects to a DCMA portal whose home page shows the list as a table. On 8 October 2026 it held 75 aircraft from 45 manufacturer names.
This is an ordinary platform migration, not a conspiracy. The effect is still that the definitive record of what US agencies may lawfully buy is served from a host the sponsoring agency does not link, in a form that is hard to read, cite or archive. Any buyer relying on a count in an article, this one included, should open the portal first.
The exemptions shielding Blue UAS platforms from the FCC Covered List run to 1 January 2028, along with those for domestic products meeting Buy American standards; the FCC extended both on 21 July 2026 and removed the end date for Conditional Approvals. Until then, a manufacturer’s quickest route to selling to the US government runs through a third-party assessment it commissions itself.
